Gulf of Mexico oil spill: Tony Hayward's email to BP staff

The full text of Tony Hayward's recent email to BP staff regarding the
company's Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

11:49PM BST 19 May 2010

Our response activity continues to make encouraging progress on all three fronts - below the surface, on the surface and on the shore. The "riser insertion tube tool" (RITT) containment system installed at the weekend continues to operate effectively. It is currently estimated to be collecting and carrying about 2,000 barrels a day of oil and gas up to the drillship Discoverer Enterprise on the surface 5,000 feet above.

BP

It will take some time to increase the flow through the system and maximise the proportion of oil and gas that will be captured and transported to the drillship. However, this is clearly a step in the right direction.

Whilst we have had some success with the "tube", let me be clear that there is certainly no sense of complacency in the response team. We continue to work aggressively on multiple solutions in parallel, and to work through the thousands of ideas which we are being sent in, high grading them, and ensuring they get to the appropriate experts on the team. Our next major intervention will take place next week when we will attempt a top kill of the well to eliminate the leak completely and seal the well.

There are more congressional hearings this week, and there will no doubt be yet more media attention. It is easy to get distracted by this - I am determined that we will resist this temptation and stay focussed on the job in hand. I will, however, make just a few comments on some of the misinformation that is out there - in particular, coverage which some of you may have seen in recent news broadcasts and print media.

Let me first of all reiterate that since we started on the Forward Agenda in 2007 - safe, reliable and efficient operations have been the number one priority on our corporate agenda. I believe that within BP there can be no doubt that this is the case, and I am absolutely determined that it will remain that way. Since 2007, our recordable injury frequency has reduced by 29%, and the number of high potential incidents has decreased by 35% - with a reduction of close to 40% for process safety related high potential incidents. I am proud of this improvement. And our current challenges completely reinforce my determination to improve further.

There continue to be reports with many different versions of what happened on the Deepwater Horizon on April 20th - lots of stories and lots of speculation. To really understand what happened, we need to let the Marine Board and other investigations run their course. We must let thorough, rigorous and independent analysis be completed to piece together how events unfolded - and allow BP, and the industry, to learn from this tragic incident and do all we can to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.

There have also been reports claiming that flawed or missing documentation posed a threat to safe operation of the Atlantis platform in the Gulf of Mexico. These allegations were first brought to BP's attention in 2009, following which we launched a full internal investigation. The investigation found the claims to be without substance, and that the operators on Atlantis had full access to accurate and up-to-date drawings necessary to operate the platform safely. A second investigation of the same allegations by the Ombudsman, Judge Sporkin, focused on project document and filing procedures, and had no bearing on operating or regulatory issues.

After this review, we made some procedural changes in the project execution plan, but these likewise had no connection with the safe operation of the platform. The design, construction, installation and operation of Atlantis have also received a high level of oversight by both the US Minerals Management Service and the US Coast Guard.

Yesterday we announced further grants, totalling $70 million, to Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi to help mitigate the economic impact of the oil spill. The total cost of the response to date, including these grants, amounts to about $625 million, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, previous grants to the Gulf states, settlements and federal costs. The financial scale of our response is just one illustration of the serious way in which we are stepping up to our responsibility to clean up the spill and mitigate its impacts.

I have said all along that we will be judged by how we respond, and that remains the case. The strength of the BP balance sheet allows us to take on this responsibility. I know that many of you have questions about how this incident will impact BP, your jobs, pensions, and our future plans. We have demonstrated robust cash flow generation over the past few quarters and at the end of 1Q our gearing ratio was below our 20 to 30% target range, at 19% or some $25 billion. We can therefore afford to do the right thing, and we will do just that - our financial strength will also allow us to come through the other side of this crisis, both financially secure and stronger as a result of what we have learned from this tragic incident and how we have responded.

In the meantime, my request of you all remains the same - to stay focussed, and do all that you can to ensure we have safe, reliable and efficient operations, wherever you are working.